


The Company of Flowers

by tattoosanta



Series: Alternate Universes [2]
Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: M/M, flower shop au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-18
Updated: 2015-03-19
Packaged: 2018-03-18 12:15:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,764
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3569306
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tattoosanta/pseuds/tattoosanta
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Chihiro liked his little flower shop; it was quiet, tucked away, and rarely ever busy. He was content the way he was... At least until two people came into his life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello I'm making more AUs.   
> I swear I'm gonna update the Edo Era AU sometime soon. Maybe tonight if I can get the motivation. 
> 
> This is the most obscure KnB ship boredInsanity and I have, I swear.

Normally, the flower shop wasn’t busy. It was the perfect place for someone like Chihiro to work; he didn’t particularly like people. He could answer the phone and take certain bouquet orders, or help people pick out their bouquets, but he wasn’t one for small talk. However, he enjoyed the company of the flowers. The smell always stuck to his hair, his skin, and his clothes, and no matter how much he washed, it wouldn’t go away. Not that he minded. 

Across the street from the small flower shop sat a tattoo parlor. It was a little odd for a tattoo store, the outside was a soft off-white color, and the windows were unusually clean, with little to no rock or metal band posters cluttering the few tattoo pictures that did sit there. Supposedly, the artist and owner of the shop really liked to keep it clean. Not that Chihiro would know, he’s never been in there. 

Either way, he was happy being settled into the small corner shop toward the end of the street, close to a field. Lucky coincidence, that a flower shop should be so close to such a large, beautiful field of flowers. Chihiro loved it; it was relaxing. 

\--------------

One day, as he was arranging a bouquet for a guy who sounded like he was in trouble with his wife, the door jingled--someone was walking in. “Good afternoon…” He mumbled, not looking up from the sea of pinks and yellows he was focusing on. 

“Hello!” Well, that voice was new. It prompted Chihiro to look up from his work. He was not expecting to see a young man with dusty orange hair and a bright smile. He looked like the kind of guy who would work in a preschool. Maybe it was because of the bright blue ribbon and childish looking name tag on his chest. “How are you today?”

“....I’m fine.” Chihiro frowned, pausing over one of the daffodils he was about to wrap around the stem of a sunflower. He didn’t like it when people started asking questions, it meant he had to talk back to them. “And you…?” 

“Doing well, thank you!” The man chirped, practically bouncing over to the counter. “Your store is really pretty, you know.” He watched as Chihiro arranged and rearranged the flowers to fit the perfect image of an apology bouquet. 

“...Thanks.” He sighed. “...What are you doing here? Do you need something?” The fact that this man was talking to him really started to grind at his suppressed anxiety, and it was really beginning to annoy him. 

The cheery man stopped for a bit, then shrugged. “Just wanted to see the shop! My coworker said it was calm and quiet in here…” He mumbled something after that, but Chihiro didn’t quite catch it. “...Anyway! Just wanted to drop in! ...Oh! By the way, my name is Ogiwara Shigehiro! I work at the preschool just around on the other end of the street!” Shigehiro now shoved his hand out, expecting Chihiro to take it for a handshake. Man, this guy was seriously pushy. 

_I didn’t ask for your name or profession, god. No need to be so annoying._ Chihiro frowned, then sighed and wiped his wet hands on his apron, taking the offered hand awkwardly. “...Nice to meet you.” 

“Likewise!” Shigehiro grinned, tightening his grip before letting Chihiro’s hand fall back to his side. “...Well? Aren’t you going to give me a name?” Of course he was going to ask for a name. He was a preschool teacher, after all, and teachers always expected names to be given during an introduction.

“Mayuzumi Chihiro.” Chihiro sighed. This whole thing was stupid; if he stood here talking to Shigehiro any longer he wouldn’t be finished with the bouquet in time for the customer to come back and pick it up. 

“Nice name!” Shigehiro grinned. Chihiro could tell he fit the role of preschool teacher well; he almost acted like one. “...Well, that’s about all the time I have for today! Goodbye, Mayuzumi-kun! Have a good evening!” And with that, the strange, obnoxious man was gone. 

Chihiro sighed and turned back to his bouquet, finishing the final touches on the flowers and tying a ribbon around the top of the vase they were in. “...What a strange man.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shigehiro makes it a habit to come and visit the flower shop every day after work, and someone new decides to come into the shop. Chihiro has to wonder how often he's going to see these people.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really like this AU, even though this was just supposed to be an on the side, think about it occasionally AU.   
> I'm going to try to keep ahead of myself with this one. I already have Chapter 3 written, I just want to make sure I have at least a 1 chapter buffer for when I inevitably get stuck trying to write this.

Shigehiro certainly seemed to enjoy coming into the shop to bother Chihiro on a daily basis. Every day, at about three o’clock, he would come in and start up a conversation that ended up being mostly one-sided. He would chatter on about his day and how cute the little kids he taught were, then ask a bunch of obnoxious and stupid questions to try and get Chihiro to talk. 

“...Look, I’m glad you had a good day, but… I still have to work.” He sighed finally. “I’m not a people person…” It was so awkward for him to be standing there talking with such a… Happy person. Especially since he didn’t like people. 

“I see!” Shigehiro grinned. God, if only he would just go away. “I think you’re shy, Mayuzumi-kun.” Well, he certainly had an eye for things like that. “Or maybe you have social anxiety?” 

Chihiro frowned. Preschool teachers were so nosey, it was annoying. “...What’s it matter to you?” He didn’t mean to sound bitter--for once--it just kind of came out that way. He didn’t like being reminded that it wasn’t just that he was shy. He could feel the panic start to rise into his throat and clench it shut, and he desperately needed a distraction. The flowers--the flowers would do just fine. 

“Well, I’m not very good at keeping my thoughts to myself, and I’d like to get to know you, so I just… said it.” Shigehiro rubbed his neck. Maybe he shouldn’t have brought it up, he felt like he made the situation worse. “Sorry if I made you uncomfortable.” 

“Hm…” Chihiro hummed, fixing a bouquet he had finished earlier. He could feel his heart pounding, and if he lifted his hands, he was sure they’d be shaking a little bit. All he could be glad about was that this only happened when people brought it up; he could suppress it any other time. “Don’t worry about it.” 

Shigehiro frowned, feeling like he had done something wrong. “I don’t know--”

“I said it’s fine.” Chihiro snapped, cutting the orange haired teacher off. He took in a deep breath, settling his wildly flying thoughts. “Just… Don’t bring it up, okay?” As much as he hated to admit it, he didn’t actually mind talking to Shigehiro. He was just… A little bit pushy and very, very loud. 

“Well, alright then.” Shigehiro smiled a bit, relieved he hadn’t actually ruined everything with his comment. “I won’t bring it up again.” He yawned a bit and stretched, running his hands through his messy fringe, then checked his watch. “Well, it’s about time for me to head home! I’ll see you tomorrow, Mayuzumi-kun!” He smiled brightly and turned on his heel, waving as he left the shop. 

“...Bye.” Chihiro mumbled, raising his hand in a small wave. Once Shigehiro had gone, everything was quiet again, save for the music. It was odd, how much life the preschool teacher brought to the store. Maybe it wasn’t so bad that he came in every day after all.

\---------------

The next morning, just after ten, the bell jingled. “Good morning.” Chihiro greeted quietly, though he didn’t look up to see the customer who had walked in. He figured it would be one of the few regulars that would come in early in the morning; what he wasn’t expecting was a black haired man with intense grey eyes and at least ten tattoos. “...Can I help you?” 

“I’m just looking.” The man shook his head, a soft smile replacing the stern look from earlier. He seemed surprisingly gentle, but also incredibly intimidating. “I’ve heard a few things about the shop from a friend of mine; he said I should come in.” 

“I see.” Chihiro sighed. He almost had to wonder if the friend this man was talking about was Shigehiro, but pushed the thought out of his mind--there was no way they’d be friends. “...Feel free to look around.” 

“Thank you,” The man nodded, sticking his hands in his pockets and beginning to meander around quietly, definitely taking his time to stop and look at a few of the flowers. Though Chihiro felt he should be uncomfortable with such a… scary looking guy, he didn’t really. The silence between them was broken when the tattooed man spoke again. “By the way, my name is Nijimura Shuuzou. I own the tattoo shop across the street from here.” 

Oh, so he was the owner. Nice to know. “I see.” Chihiro sighed; he guessed he would have to introduce himself again. “My name is Mayuzumi Chihiro.” He said, sounding about as disinterested in the introduction as he felt. “...Nice to meet you.”

“A pleasure to meet you, too.” Shuuzou smiled. He did have a pretty nice smile, for looking and sounding so scary. He looked around a bit more, then returned to the front counter where Chihiro was standing. “Do you own this shop?”

“Yeah.” Chihiro nodded. At least Shuuzou wasn’t as loud as Shigehiro was. Then again, Shigehiro worked with four and five year olds all the time, so it was pretty understandable he’d have a bit of volume to his voice. 

“It’s nice.” Shuuzou said. “You run it well.” Clearly, he was just trying to make small talk and get to know Chihiro. Maybe he wanted to be friends, maybe he was just being friendly. Either way, it was surprising. He didn’t seem like the type to make friendly small talk with people, especially people who didn’t really carry a conversation well. 

An almost nonexistent smile turned the corners of Chihiro’s lips upward and he shook his head a little bit. “Thank you.” It eased his mind to know people thought he ran the shop well; he’d been worried about it for a while. 

Shuuzou seemed pleased with the answer he received, and a small chuckle escaped his lips. He pushed himself upright from the counter and shoved his hands back in his pockets. “I’ll leave you to your work now, Mayuzumi-san.” He turned on his heel, casting a friendly smile toward the florist. “Have a good day.” 

“...You too.” Chihiro nodded toward Shuuzou as the tattoo artist left the shop. He had a feeling he’d be seeing him again, and, just like Shigehiro, he didn’t really mind.

**Author's Note:**

> I never thought I'd make a flower shop AU, but here we are.   
> At least it's cute.


End file.
